EM Lyon wants to relaunch with a new shareholder
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Between controversies, governance crisis and loss of rank, the EM Lyon management school is struggling to emerge from the turmoil. Has the page been turned, as Isabelle Huault proclaims, the president of the executive board who arrived in September 2020 to relaunch the establishment which welcomes 9,000 students each year? The entry of a new shareholder could contribute to this.
According to several sources, the school where Laurent Wauquiez (ex-president of the Republicans) was a short-lived teacher, must formalize, Thursday, September 8, the entry in turn of Galileo Global Education. This operator, which presents itself as the European leader in higher education, with 54 schools in its portfolio (including Cours Florent, Penninghen, Paris School of Business, etc.), is supported by Téthys Invest, the investment holding company of the Bettencourt family. (largest shareholder of L’Oréal).
Together, they should hold nearly 40% of the capital of EM Lyon, behind the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Lyon which would retain 51%. This rise, with a bet of more than 100 million euros at stake, would be done in part by capital increase, Galileo also taking over the participation of the investment fund Qualium. Galileo and Téthys also plan to make room for local investors and alumni.
In 2018, EM Lyon, a non-profit association like its peers, caused an earthquake in the world of higher education by transforming itself into a public limited company. The group had opened its capital the following year to Qualium, a management company created under the aegis of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations, and to the public bank Bpifrance. The CCI of Lyon, which had participated in the creation of the school in 1872, had supported this revolution, convinced that it was no longer in a position to finance its development, and in particular the internationalization of Casablanca in Mubaï. It was she who had weighed in the choice of Qualium, a novice in the education sector, when part of the EM Lyon teams campaigned for the Eurazeo fund, which already owned hotel schools in Switzerland.
No “financialization” of the establishment
Settlements of accounts and many departures had followed within EM Lyon. Former LREM deputy Bruno Bonnell had resigned from the presidency of the supervisory board. A new general manager was appointed in April 2019, to finally be landed nine months later. Critics then denounced a less selectivity of students at the entrance, within the framework of parallel admissions, combined with a drop in academic quality. EM Lyon defended itself against it, declaring itself the victim of a smear campaign.
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